This Harper’s Weekly cartoon by Thomas Nast portrays Congressman Fernando Wood, a
former mayor of New York City (1855-1857; 1859-1861), as a
devilish supporter of the Confederate cause.

During
the Civil War, the Democratic Party in the North was divided
into two wings:
the War Democrats, who supported the Union military
effort, and the Peace Democrats, who favored a truce and
negotiated settlement to end the war.
Often unwilling to distinguish between war opposition and
treason, Republicans and other political opponents considered
Wood and the Peace Democrats to be Confederate sympathizers,
commonly called “Copperheads” (named after the snake).

Wood
is depicted in the featured cartoon as the Angel of Peace, a
dual reference to a traditional New Year’s symbol as well as
to the congressman’s leadership role among the Peace
Democrats.
The image reveals the innocently named Angel of Peace to
be, instead, a devil with talon-edged wings and feet, hair
curled like demonic horns, and a copperhead snake entwining his
legs.

Fernando
Wood was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 14, 1812.
His father engaged in several unsuccessful business
ventures, then moved the family to New York City in 1821 where
his luck was little better.
Young Wood attended a private school, but left home at
age 13 to support himself by working at a variety of menial
jobs.
He moved to Philadelphia and in 1831 married Anna Taylor.
The next year his father died, so the couple moved to New
York City, where the 20-year-old Wood labored to provide for his
mother, younger siblings, and new bride.
He and his wife divorced in 1839.

Like
his father, Wood was not a prosperous businessman, but he
learned he possessed a talent for politics.
He joined the Tammany Hall organization, sided with the
anti-National Bank faction of the Democratic Party, and quickly
rose to prominence.
He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in
1840 at the age of 28.
Shortly after taking office he married Anna Richardson,
the daughter of a well-connected judge from upstate New York.
The couple had seven children; she died in 1859.

In
Congress, Wood opposed the Whig program of national banking,
tariffs, and internal improvements, except when they benefited
his district.
He lost his seat in 1842 due to redistricting.
Two years later, he received a patronage position in the
State Department as a dispatch agent at the port of New York.
He used his wife’s money to invest in real estate,
eventually becoming wealthy as a result.
However, he was successfully sued in 1848 for cheating
his partners out of their due share of the profits from a gold
mine investment.

During
the 1850s Wood was the almost perennial Democratic nominee for
mayor of New York City:
1850, defeated; 1854, elected; 1856, elected; 1857,
defeated; 1859, elected; 1861, defeated.
As mayor, he tried to unify a factionalized party and a
city deeply divided by class, religion, ethnicity, and race.
He supported social and moral reforms, such as
establishing Central Park and the City University of New York
and controlling vice.
In deference to working-class immigrants he did not
strictly enforce state liquor laws, and he endorsed public work
projects during the financial panic of 1857.
Democratic infighting led to an eventual schism, with
Wood forming Mozart Hall as an organizational rival to Tammany
Hall.

During
Wood’s final mayoral term (1859-1861), the limited authority
of his office and a Republican state legislature further
restricted Wood’s ability to accomplish his political goals.
The state-city power struggle over law enforcement
produced rival police forces, rioting, and a court case, which
finally ended in triumph for the state legislature.
This antagonism provoked Wood to suggest in 1861 that the
city secede from the state of New York.
Because of his pre-war sympathies for the South, his
political enemies claimed he supported the Confederate cause.
In fact, during his last days as mayor he had urged a
million-dollar tax to finance the raising of Union troops.
At the end of his mayoral term he married Alice Mills,
the 16-year-old daughter of a rich merchant; they had nine
children.

In
1860, Wood purchased the New York Daily News and
installed his brother, Benjamin, as editor.
When the Civil War began, the brothers gained notoriety
for their outspoken opposition to the war.
For 18 months in 1861-1863, the federal government halted
publication of the Daily News for its alleged Confederate
sympathy.
However, the unpopularity of the Civil War among New
Yorkers resulted in Fernando Wood’s election to Congress in
1862 as a Peace Democrat.

In
August 1864, a few months after the featured cartoon appeared,
Wood was instrumental in convincing delegates to the Democratic
National Convention to adopt a peace plank calling for an
immediate cease-fire and negotiated settlement with the
Confederacy.
In November 1864, he lost his reelection bid, but two
years later was returned to Congress, where he supported low
tariffs and hard money.
He briefly served as speaker pro tem in 1875, and after
1877 chaired the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
Wood served in Congress until his death on February 14,
1881.